RAILROAD MEN OF AMERICA
JAMES MATTHIAS BUCKLEY
Human energy composed of will power and physical strength is a force that usually secures great achievements. When it is found in a man otherwise well balanced he is generally found successful in whatever vocation of life he engages. It is a restless gift of nature which inspires activity and when properly directed carries forward plans and purposes and secures the desired results. A man without energy is like an engine without steam. The talents of men are as varied as are the fields of their employment and when a boy or young man can discern his gifts and will apply his energy in the direction they point he is generally sure of success.
An illustration of this type of a man is found in James Matthias Buckley He inherited energy from his sturdy Irish and Welsh ancestry his paternal grandfather Moses Buckley being a native of the north of Ireland though not a Celt who emigrated to America about 1770 and settled in Chewan county North Carolina where he engaged in farming and stock raising having brought some blooded horses with him from Ireland Here he reared a family of four children of whom Bartimous born in 1803 was the third and the father of James Matthias About 181 1 the grandfather Moses Buckley freed his slaves in North Carolina except old Sambo who refused to leave the family and started for the territory of Ohio by wagon through Tennesee and Kentucky While en route through Tennesee he was taken sick and died in that Sate It then devolved upon the two eldest sons James and Bartimous to take the family to its destination locating in Butler County Ohio Here about 1825 Barti mous was married to Miss Deborah Ann Johnson a native of Kentucky whose mother was a Llewellyn and a relative of Llewellyn who with Nash founded the city of Nashville Tenn and also a descendant of the clan Llewellyn of Wales.
After the marriage of Bartimous Buckley he located in Eaton Preble county Ohio where his son James M was born March 2 1833 He then successfully engaged in the tanning business and general merchandising until the financial crisis of 1837 when he with many others failed In 1840 he moved to Indiana when James M was seven years old and there died in 1860 aged fifty seven years The widow and mother is still living near Lafayette Indiana aged eighty two years.
From school age until fifteen years old James M attended the common school after which he attended a two years course in the Delaware Indiana Academy Thus at the age of seventeen years the end of his school days having acquired a fair education he decided to look out for himself His first employment was that of check clerk of a railroad contractor on the Lafayette & Indianapolis road through which he earned his first money This employment fixed his purpose to pursue railroading as a vocation and at the age of nineteen years in 1852 then a stout energetic young man he engaged in railroad construction and remained in continuous railroad service in the various departments thereof including construction transportation and main tainance in all their branches After he had thus been in service for some time in order that he might become more efficient therein he took a course of private instruction in engineering construction and bridge building and thus gained a fair knowledge of these branches which aided him in future operations
In 1868 Mr Buckley took a position as roadmaster of the Missouri Pacific road in which he remained until 1869 when he changed to the North Missouri road in the same position In 1870 he entered the service of the Missouri River Fort Scott & Gulf Road and of the Leavenworth Lawrence & Galveston road with which he remained for eleven years as general roadmaster and for the last three years thereof as superintendent of bridges and buildings
In March 1881 Mr Buckley came to Portland Oregon and took the position of superintendent of the railway division of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company and August 1st the same year was appointed assistant general manager of the same road Here Mr Buckley remained in efficient and acceptable service until January 1st 1883 when he was invited to accept the position of assistant general manager of the Northern Pacific Railroad having charge of the western division thereof extending from Helena to Tacoma and Portland with headquarters at Tacoma He remained in this responsible position in which he displayed superior executive ability and great energy until February 1889 when he resigned to accept the position of general superintendent and superintendent of the construction of the Spokane Falls & Northern Railroad for one hundred miles to Colville which he successfully completed in about seven months April 1st 1890 when he retired therefrom his large private interests demanding his entire attention Thus Mr Buckley closed a successful and profitable railroad career of thirty eight years
The period of Mr Buckley's management of the western division of the Northern Pacific road was an important and difficult one because it included the Rocky and the Cascade mountain sections the latter of which was constructed including the famous Switchback containing seven miles of track rising and descending around and over the mountains at a grade of three hundred feet to the mile to reach the points which the tunnel reached in less than two miles during his management requiring mature judgment executive skill and great caution in the operation of this wonderful and dangerous piece of trackage over a wild broken and high mountain range and constant vigilance to keep the cuts and tracks free from snow with steam plows and other means the following winter and the tracks high and perilous bridges and trestle work in repair During the eleven months that the switchback was used prior to and pending the completion of the great Cascade tunnel there was not a single accident or injury Most of the various improvements that have been and are being made at this end of this great railroad line were suggested and inaugurated by Mr Buckley He first suggested the construction of the switchback through correspondence to CB Wright as a means of securing the vast grain shipments from East of the Cascade range to Tacoma instead of to and by way of Portland which gave the former city the advantage of a year's shipments before the completion of the tunnel which it realized He also urged the laying of tracks to and the improvements at Old Town He was instrumental in starting the construction of the permanent Headquarters Building for the company at Tacoma and also instigated the widening of North Pacific avenue by sluicing the west bluff therealong and filling in the bay below and other improvements all in the interest of Tacoma
Mr Buckley has received marks of distinction and held various official positions of responsibility and trust During the war he was connected with the operation of a railroad in Indiana controlled by the government in the transportation of troops and supplies and was the moving spirit in and aided the formation of a militia company in Indiana to guard the state against invasion and was by Governor Morton commissioned a lieutenant thereof and also organized and was chosen president of the first Union club ever organized in southern Indiana Though a Democrat in political faith he was squarely for the Union In 1876 he was chosen a member of the City Council of Kansas City Missouri for two years and was chairman of the Committee on Public Improvements and a member of other important committees While connected with the general management of the Northern Pacific Railroad Mr Buckley was a director and vice president of the Spokane & Idaho the Spokane & Palouse the Central Washington the Cle alum the Northern Pacific & Cascade the Northern Pacific & Puget Sound and of the Cascade Mountains railroad companies He was also vice president and general manager of the Northern Pacific Coal Company He with others urged the organization of the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce and was chairman of the meeting at which it was organized and was the first vice president for the first four years and is still a member thereof Mr Buckley was nominated to the State Legislature by the Democrats of Spokane county in 1890
The town of Buckley on the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad in Pierce county forty five miles from Tacoma was named in honor of Mr Buckley while assistant general man ager of the Northern Pacific Railroad He was made a Freemason at Evansville Indiana in 1856 and has advanced through the consecutive degrees thereof to Knight Templar in York rite and the thirty third degree Scottish rite
Mr Buckley was married November 29 1854 at Crawfordsville Indiana to Miss Anna Christina Keeran Of this marriage there are three living children of whom Clara the eldest is married to George R Klinck of Lyons New York who now resides at Spokane Falls James Edward a single son who resides at Tacoma Jeanne M a single daughter residing at home
Mr Buckley's present residence is in Spokane Falls but nearly all his large real estate interests are in and about Tacoma where most of his time since his retirement from railroad service is occupied Real estate mining properties and speculation now engage his attention
Thus has been the career and success of a man of purpose and energy who started in life without means who saved his earnings and his accumulations and investments to day have secured him large wealth and he is only a short way on the shady side of life.
Charles W Hobart
National magazine: a monthly jounal of American history, Volume 13
Magazine of Western History
Vol. 13 No. 1
Nov 1890
pp. 183 - 186
JAMES MATTHIAS BUCKLEY
Human energy composed of will power and physical strength is a force that usually secures great achievements. When it is found in a man otherwise well balanced he is generally found successful in whatever vocation of life he engages. It is a restless gift of nature which inspires activity and when properly directed carries forward plans and purposes and secures the desired results. A man without energy is like an engine without steam. The talents of men are as varied as are the fields of their employment and when a boy or young man can discern his gifts and will apply his energy in the direction they point he is generally sure of success.
An illustration of this type of a man is found in James Matthias Buckley He inherited energy from his sturdy Irish and Welsh ancestry his paternal grandfather Moses Buckley being a native of the north of Ireland though not a Celt who emigrated to America about 1770 and settled in Chewan county North Carolina where he engaged in farming and stock raising having brought some blooded horses with him from Ireland Here he reared a family of four children of whom Bartimous born in 1803 was the third and the father of James Matthias About 181 1 the grandfather Moses Buckley freed his slaves in North Carolina except old Sambo who refused to leave the family and started for the territory of Ohio by wagon through Tennesee and Kentucky While en route through Tennesee he was taken sick and died in that Sate It then devolved upon the two eldest sons James and Bartimous to take the family to its destination locating in Butler County Ohio Here about 1825 Barti mous was married to Miss Deborah Ann Johnson a native of Kentucky whose mother was a Llewellyn and a relative of Llewellyn who with Nash founded the city of Nashville Tenn and also a descendant of the clan Llewellyn of Wales.
After the marriage of Bartimous Buckley he located in Eaton Preble county Ohio where his son James M was born March 2 1833 He then successfully engaged in the tanning business and general merchandising until the financial crisis of 1837 when he with many others failed In 1840 he moved to Indiana when James M was seven years old and there died in 1860 aged fifty seven years The widow and mother is still living near Lafayette Indiana aged eighty two years.
From school age until fifteen years old James M attended the common school after which he attended a two years course in the Delaware Indiana Academy Thus at the age of seventeen years the end of his school days having acquired a fair education he decided to look out for himself His first employment was that of check clerk of a railroad contractor on the Lafayette & Indianapolis road through which he earned his first money This employment fixed his purpose to pursue railroading as a vocation and at the age of nineteen years in 1852 then a stout energetic young man he engaged in railroad construction and remained in continuous railroad service in the various departments thereof including construction transportation and main tainance in all their branches After he had thus been in service for some time in order that he might become more efficient therein he took a course of private instruction in engineering construction and bridge building and thus gained a fair knowledge of these branches which aided him in future operations
In 1868 Mr Buckley took a position as roadmaster of the Missouri Pacific road in which he remained until 1869 when he changed to the North Missouri road in the same position In 1870 he entered the service of the Missouri River Fort Scott & Gulf Road and of the Leavenworth Lawrence & Galveston road with which he remained for eleven years as general roadmaster and for the last three years thereof as superintendent of bridges and buildings
In March 1881 Mr Buckley came to Portland Oregon and took the position of superintendent of the railway division of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company and August 1st the same year was appointed assistant general manager of the same road Here Mr Buckley remained in efficient and acceptable service until January 1st 1883 when he was invited to accept the position of assistant general manager of the Northern Pacific Railroad having charge of the western division thereof extending from Helena to Tacoma and Portland with headquarters at Tacoma He remained in this responsible position in which he displayed superior executive ability and great energy until February 1889 when he resigned to accept the position of general superintendent and superintendent of the construction of the Spokane Falls & Northern Railroad for one hundred miles to Colville which he successfully completed in about seven months April 1st 1890 when he retired therefrom his large private interests demanding his entire attention Thus Mr Buckley closed a successful and profitable railroad career of thirty eight years
The period of Mr Buckley's management of the western division of the Northern Pacific road was an important and difficult one because it included the Rocky and the Cascade mountain sections the latter of which was constructed including the famous Switchback containing seven miles of track rising and descending around and over the mountains at a grade of three hundred feet to the mile to reach the points which the tunnel reached in less than two miles during his management requiring mature judgment executive skill and great caution in the operation of this wonderful and dangerous piece of trackage over a wild broken and high mountain range and constant vigilance to keep the cuts and tracks free from snow with steam plows and other means the following winter and the tracks high and perilous bridges and trestle work in repair During the eleven months that the switchback was used prior to and pending the completion of the great Cascade tunnel there was not a single accident or injury Most of the various improvements that have been and are being made at this end of this great railroad line were suggested and inaugurated by Mr Buckley He first suggested the construction of the switchback through correspondence to CB Wright as a means of securing the vast grain shipments from East of the Cascade range to Tacoma instead of to and by way of Portland which gave the former city the advantage of a year's shipments before the completion of the tunnel which it realized He also urged the laying of tracks to and the improvements at Old Town He was instrumental in starting the construction of the permanent Headquarters Building for the company at Tacoma and also instigated the widening of North Pacific avenue by sluicing the west bluff therealong and filling in the bay below and other improvements all in the interest of Tacoma
Mr Buckley has received marks of distinction and held various official positions of responsibility and trust During the war he was connected with the operation of a railroad in Indiana controlled by the government in the transportation of troops and supplies and was the moving spirit in and aided the formation of a militia company in Indiana to guard the state against invasion and was by Governor Morton commissioned a lieutenant thereof and also organized and was chosen president of the first Union club ever organized in southern Indiana Though a Democrat in political faith he was squarely for the Union In 1876 he was chosen a member of the City Council of Kansas City Missouri for two years and was chairman of the Committee on Public Improvements and a member of other important committees While connected with the general management of the Northern Pacific Railroad Mr Buckley was a director and vice president of the Spokane & Idaho the Spokane & Palouse the Central Washington the Cle alum the Northern Pacific & Cascade the Northern Pacific & Puget Sound and of the Cascade Mountains railroad companies He was also vice president and general manager of the Northern Pacific Coal Company He with others urged the organization of the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce and was chairman of the meeting at which it was organized and was the first vice president for the first four years and is still a member thereof Mr Buckley was nominated to the State Legislature by the Democrats of Spokane county in 1890
The town of Buckley on the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad in Pierce county forty five miles from Tacoma was named in honor of Mr Buckley while assistant general man ager of the Northern Pacific Railroad He was made a Freemason at Evansville Indiana in 1856 and has advanced through the consecutive degrees thereof to Knight Templar in York rite and the thirty third degree Scottish rite
Mr Buckley was married November 29 1854 at Crawfordsville Indiana to Miss Anna Christina Keeran Of this marriage there are three living children of whom Clara the eldest is married to George R Klinck of Lyons New York who now resides at Spokane Falls James Edward a single son who resides at Tacoma Jeanne M a single daughter residing at home
Mr Buckley's present residence is in Spokane Falls but nearly all his large real estate interests are in and about Tacoma where most of his time since his retirement from railroad service is occupied Real estate mining properties and speculation now engage his attention
Thus has been the career and success of a man of purpose and energy who started in life without means who saved his earnings and his accumulations and investments to day have secured him large wealth and he is only a short way on the shady side of life.
Charles W Hobart
National magazine: a monthly jounal of American history, Volume 13
Magazine of Western History
Vol. 13 No. 1
Nov 1890
pp. 183 - 186
RAILROAD MEN OF AMERICA
JAMES MATTHIAS BUCKLEY
Human energy composed of will power and physical strength is a force that usually secures great achievements. When it is found in a man otherwise well balanced he is generally found successful in whatever vocation of life he engages. It is a restless gift of nature which inspires activity and when properly directed carries forward plans and purposes and secures the desired results. A man without energy is like an engine without steam. The talents of men are as varied as are the fields of their employment and when a boy or young man can discern his gifts and will apply his energy in the direction they point he is generally sure of success.
An illustration of this type of a man is found in James Matthias Buckley He inherited energy from his sturdy Irish and Welsh ancestry his paternal grandfather Moses Buckley being a native of the north of Ireland though not a Celt who emigrated to America about 1770 and settled in Chewan county North Carolina where he engaged in farming and stock raising having brought some blooded horses with him from Ireland Here he reared a family of four children of whom Bartimous born in 1803 was the third and the father of James Matthias About 181 1 the grandfather Moses Buckley freed his slaves in North Carolina except old Sambo who refused to leave the family and started for the territory of Ohio by wagon through Tennesee and Kentucky While en route through Tennesee he was taken sick and died in that Sate It then devolved upon the two eldest sons James and Bartimous to take the family to its destination locating in Butler County Ohio Here about 1825 Barti mous was married to Miss Deborah Ann Johnson a native of Kentucky whose mother was a Llewellyn and a relative of Llewellyn who with Nash founded the city of Nashville Tenn and also a descendant of the clan Llewellyn of Wales.
After the marriage of Bartimous Buckley he located in Eaton Preble county Ohio where his son James M was born March 2 1833 He then successfully engaged in the tanning business and general merchandising until the financial crisis of 1837 when he with many others failed In 1840 he moved to Indiana when James M was seven years old and there died in 1860 aged fifty seven years The widow and mother is still living near Lafayette Indiana aged eighty two years.
From school age until fifteen years old James M attended the common school after which he attended a two years course in the Delaware Indiana Academy Thus at the age of seventeen years the end of his school days having acquired a fair education he decided to look out for himself His first employment was that of check clerk of a railroad contractor on the Lafayette & Indianapolis road through which he earned his first money This employment fixed his purpose to pursue railroading as a vocation and at the age of nineteen years in 1852 then a stout energetic young man he engaged in railroad construction and remained in continuous railroad service in the various departments thereof including construction transportation and main tainance in all their branches After he had thus been in service for some time in order that he might become more efficient therein he took a course of private instruction in engineering construction and bridge building and thus gained a fair knowledge of these branches which aided him in future operations
In 1868 Mr Buckley took a position as roadmaster of the Missouri Pacific road in which he remained until 1869 when he changed to the North Missouri road in the same position In 1870 he entered the service of the Missouri River Fort Scott & Gulf Road and of the Leavenworth Lawrence & Galveston road with which he remained for eleven years as general roadmaster and for the last three years thereof as superintendent of bridges and buildings
In March 1881 Mr Buckley came to Portland Oregon and took the position of superintendent of the railway division of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company and August 1st the same year was appointed assistant general manager of the same road Here Mr Buckley remained in efficient and acceptable service until January 1st 1883 when he was invited to accept the position of assistant general manager of the Northern Pacific Railroad having charge of the western division thereof extending from Helena to Tacoma and Portland with headquarters at Tacoma He remained in this responsible position in which he displayed superior executive ability and great energy until February 1889 when he resigned to accept the position of general superintendent and superintendent of the construction of the Spokane Falls & Northern Railroad for one hundred miles to Colville which he successfully completed in about seven months April 1st 1890 when he retired therefrom his large private interests demanding his entire attention Thus Mr Buckley closed a successful and profitable railroad career of thirty eight years
The period of Mr Buckley's management of the western division of the Northern Pacific road was an important and difficult one because it included the Rocky and the Cascade mountain sections the latter of which was constructed including the famous Switchback containing seven miles of track rising and descending around and over the mountains at a grade of three hundred feet to the mile to reach the points which the tunnel reached in less than two miles during his management requiring mature judgment executive skill and great caution in the operation of this wonderful and dangerous piece of trackage over a wild broken and high mountain range and constant vigilance to keep the cuts and tracks free from snow with steam plows and other means the following winter and the tracks high and perilous bridges and trestle work in repair During the eleven months that the switchback was used prior to and pending the completion of the great Cascade tunnel there was not a single accident or injury Most of the various improvements that have been and are being made at this end of this great railroad line were suggested and inaugurated by Mr Buckley He first suggested the construction of the switchback through correspondence to CB Wright as a means of securing the vast grain shipments from East of the Cascade range to Tacoma instead of to and by way of Portland which gave the former city the advantage of a year's shipments before the completion of the tunnel which it realized He also urged the laying of tracks to and the improvements at Old Town He was instrumental in starting the construction of the permanent Headquarters Building for the company at Tacoma and also instigated the widening of North Pacific avenue by sluicing the west bluff therealong and filling in the bay below and other improvements all in the interest of Tacoma
Mr Buckley has received marks of distinction and held various official positions of responsibility and trust During the war he was connected with the operation of a railroad in Indiana controlled by the government in the transportation of troops and supplies and was the moving spirit in and aided the formation of a militia company in Indiana to guard the state against invasion and was by Governor Morton commissioned a lieutenant thereof and also organized and was chosen president of the first Union club ever organized in southern Indiana Though a Democrat in political faith he was squarely for the Union In 1876 he was chosen a member of the City Council of Kansas City Missouri for two years and was chairman of the Committee on Public Improvements and a member of other important committees While connected with the general management of the Northern Pacific Railroad Mr Buckley was a director and vice president of the Spokane & Idaho the Spokane & Palouse the Central Washington the Cle alum the Northern Pacific & Cascade the Northern Pacific & Puget Sound and of the Cascade Mountains railroad companies He was also vice president and general manager of the Northern Pacific Coal Company He with others urged the organization of the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce and was chairman of the meeting at which it was organized and was the first vice president for the first four years and is still a member thereof Mr Buckley was nominated to the State Legislature by the Democrats of Spokane county in 1890
The town of Buckley on the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad in Pierce county forty five miles from Tacoma was named in honor of Mr Buckley while assistant general man ager of the Northern Pacific Railroad He was made a Freemason at Evansville Indiana in 1856 and has advanced through the consecutive degrees thereof to Knight Templar in York rite and the thirty third degree Scottish rite
Mr Buckley was married November 29 1854 at Crawfordsville Indiana to Miss Anna Christina Keeran Of this marriage there are three living children of whom Clara the eldest is married to George R Klinck of Lyons New York who now resides at Spokane Falls James Edward a single son who resides at Tacoma Jeanne M a single daughter residing at home
Mr Buckley's present residence is in Spokane Falls but nearly all his large real estate interests are in and about Tacoma where most of his time since his retirement from railroad service is occupied Real estate mining properties and speculation now engage his attention
Thus has been the career and success of a man of purpose and energy who started in life without means who saved his earnings and his accumulations and investments to day have secured him large wealth and he is only a short way on the shady side of life.
Charles W Hobart
National magazine: a monthly jounal of American history, Volume 13
Magazine of Western History
Vol. 13 No. 1
Nov 1890
pp. 183 - 186
JAMES MATTHIAS BUCKLEY
Human energy composed of will power and physical strength is a force that usually secures great achievements. When it is found in a man otherwise well balanced he is generally found successful in whatever vocation of life he engages. It is a restless gift of nature which inspires activity and when properly directed carries forward plans and purposes and secures the desired results. A man without energy is like an engine without steam. The talents of men are as varied as are the fields of their employment and when a boy or young man can discern his gifts and will apply his energy in the direction they point he is generally sure of success.
An illustration of this type of a man is found in James Matthias Buckley He inherited energy from his sturdy Irish and Welsh ancestry his paternal grandfather Moses Buckley being a native of the north of Ireland though not a Celt who emigrated to America about 1770 and settled in Chewan county North Carolina where he engaged in farming and stock raising having brought some blooded horses with him from Ireland Here he reared a family of four children of whom Bartimous born in 1803 was the third and the father of James Matthias About 181 1 the grandfather Moses Buckley freed his slaves in North Carolina except old Sambo who refused to leave the family and started for the territory of Ohio by wagon through Tennesee and Kentucky While en route through Tennesee he was taken sick and died in that Sate It then devolved upon the two eldest sons James and Bartimous to take the family to its destination locating in Butler County Ohio Here about 1825 Barti mous was married to Miss Deborah Ann Johnson a native of Kentucky whose mother was a Llewellyn and a relative of Llewellyn who with Nash founded the city of Nashville Tenn and also a descendant of the clan Llewellyn of Wales.
After the marriage of Bartimous Buckley he located in Eaton Preble county Ohio where his son James M was born March 2 1833 He then successfully engaged in the tanning business and general merchandising until the financial crisis of 1837 when he with many others failed In 1840 he moved to Indiana when James M was seven years old and there died in 1860 aged fifty seven years The widow and mother is still living near Lafayette Indiana aged eighty two years.
From school age until fifteen years old James M attended the common school after which he attended a two years course in the Delaware Indiana Academy Thus at the age of seventeen years the end of his school days having acquired a fair education he decided to look out for himself His first employment was that of check clerk of a railroad contractor on the Lafayette & Indianapolis road through which he earned his first money This employment fixed his purpose to pursue railroading as a vocation and at the age of nineteen years in 1852 then a stout energetic young man he engaged in railroad construction and remained in continuous railroad service in the various departments thereof including construction transportation and main tainance in all their branches After he had thus been in service for some time in order that he might become more efficient therein he took a course of private instruction in engineering construction and bridge building and thus gained a fair knowledge of these branches which aided him in future operations
In 1868 Mr Buckley took a position as roadmaster of the Missouri Pacific road in which he remained until 1869 when he changed to the North Missouri road in the same position In 1870 he entered the service of the Missouri River Fort Scott & Gulf Road and of the Leavenworth Lawrence & Galveston road with which he remained for eleven years as general roadmaster and for the last three years thereof as superintendent of bridges and buildings
In March 1881 Mr Buckley came to Portland Oregon and took the position of superintendent of the railway division of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company and August 1st the same year was appointed assistant general manager of the same road Here Mr Buckley remained in efficient and acceptable service until January 1st 1883 when he was invited to accept the position of assistant general manager of the Northern Pacific Railroad having charge of the western division thereof extending from Helena to Tacoma and Portland with headquarters at Tacoma He remained in this responsible position in which he displayed superior executive ability and great energy until February 1889 when he resigned to accept the position of general superintendent and superintendent of the construction of the Spokane Falls & Northern Railroad for one hundred miles to Colville which he successfully completed in about seven months April 1st 1890 when he retired therefrom his large private interests demanding his entire attention Thus Mr Buckley closed a successful and profitable railroad career of thirty eight years
The period of Mr Buckley's management of the western division of the Northern Pacific road was an important and difficult one because it included the Rocky and the Cascade mountain sections the latter of which was constructed including the famous Switchback containing seven miles of track rising and descending around and over the mountains at a grade of three hundred feet to the mile to reach the points which the tunnel reached in less than two miles during his management requiring mature judgment executive skill and great caution in the operation of this wonderful and dangerous piece of trackage over a wild broken and high mountain range and constant vigilance to keep the cuts and tracks free from snow with steam plows and other means the following winter and the tracks high and perilous bridges and trestle work in repair During the eleven months that the switchback was used prior to and pending the completion of the great Cascade tunnel there was not a single accident or injury Most of the various improvements that have been and are being made at this end of this great railroad line were suggested and inaugurated by Mr Buckley He first suggested the construction of the switchback through correspondence to CB Wright as a means of securing the vast grain shipments from East of the Cascade range to Tacoma instead of to and by way of Portland which gave the former city the advantage of a year's shipments before the completion of the tunnel which it realized He also urged the laying of tracks to and the improvements at Old Town He was instrumental in starting the construction of the permanent Headquarters Building for the company at Tacoma and also instigated the widening of North Pacific avenue by sluicing the west bluff therealong and filling in the bay below and other improvements all in the interest of Tacoma
Mr Buckley has received marks of distinction and held various official positions of responsibility and trust During the war he was connected with the operation of a railroad in Indiana controlled by the government in the transportation of troops and supplies and was the moving spirit in and aided the formation of a militia company in Indiana to guard the state against invasion and was by Governor Morton commissioned a lieutenant thereof and also organized and was chosen president of the first Union club ever organized in southern Indiana Though a Democrat in political faith he was squarely for the Union In 1876 he was chosen a member of the City Council of Kansas City Missouri for two years and was chairman of the Committee on Public Improvements and a member of other important committees While connected with the general management of the Northern Pacific Railroad Mr Buckley was a director and vice president of the Spokane & Idaho the Spokane & Palouse the Central Washington the Cle alum the Northern Pacific & Cascade the Northern Pacific & Puget Sound and of the Cascade Mountains railroad companies He was also vice president and general manager of the Northern Pacific Coal Company He with others urged the organization of the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce and was chairman of the meeting at which it was organized and was the first vice president for the first four years and is still a member thereof Mr Buckley was nominated to the State Legislature by the Democrats of Spokane county in 1890
The town of Buckley on the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad in Pierce county forty five miles from Tacoma was named in honor of Mr Buckley while assistant general man ager of the Northern Pacific Railroad He was made a Freemason at Evansville Indiana in 1856 and has advanced through the consecutive degrees thereof to Knight Templar in York rite and the thirty third degree Scottish rite
Mr Buckley was married November 29 1854 at Crawfordsville Indiana to Miss Anna Christina Keeran Of this marriage there are three living children of whom Clara the eldest is married to George R Klinck of Lyons New York who now resides at Spokane Falls James Edward a single son who resides at Tacoma Jeanne M a single daughter residing at home
Mr Buckley's present residence is in Spokane Falls but nearly all his large real estate interests are in and about Tacoma where most of his time since his retirement from railroad service is occupied Real estate mining properties and speculation now engage his attention
Thus has been the career and success of a man of purpose and energy who started in life without means who saved his earnings and his accumulations and investments to day have secured him large wealth and he is only a short way on the shady side of life.
Charles W Hobart
National magazine: a monthly jounal of American history, Volume 13
Magazine of Western History
Vol. 13 No. 1
Nov 1890
pp. 183 - 186
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